Conversion Rockstars: 37Signals' Scent Leads to Higher Conversions

By ​Peter Borden

November 11, 2011

When it comes to conversion, scent matters.

As website optimization thought leader Bryan Eisenberg explains, it’s like your website visitors are following a “scent trail” from the emails you send to the products they’d like to buy. If this scent trail is strong, these visitors will convert. But:

“If you interrupt your scent trail, you leave your customer stranded. The path she was following becomes a dead end. Where’s she supposed to go? Do you really want to trust that she’s motivated enough to continue on her own? When it comes to scent trails, dropping the ball is one of the leading causes of abandonment!

This is a crystal-clear example of how to use scent to your advantage. Most organizations, in my experience, don't do this ... ironically because it's so simple. Seduced as they are by the need to be "creative" and come up with something "new," they end up missing the obvious: Echoing the images, offers, and calls-to-action exactly is the best way to go. Remember, conversion rate optimization doesn't have to be complicated!

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Peter Borden is a former marketing strategist at Monetate and was responsible for PPC and email marketing strategy. Peter's also an expert on the psychology of persuasion, influence, and conversion as well as an active iOS developer.